Finally!!

After a grueling 2 year campaign and what seemed like an eternity between Election Day and Inauguration Day, Barack Obama is now the President of the United States. I still get choked up when I see other people getting choked up.

It is not that we haven't had Presidents that appealed to the younger generation or Presidents that were outsiders who promised change in the way we do Government. I mean Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and even Ronald Reagan were all met with enthusiasm at that level. But when you throw in the significance of Barack Obama being the first African-American President, it just becomes overwhelming.

I was especially moved by the pictures from overseas where they showed people watching the inauguration and then talking about how great America is. It was like the days immediately after 9/11. The world once again has hope in America.

Of course, nothing in politics is without controversy. The oath could have gone maybe a little smoother. Would it have killed Justice Roberts to just jot it down? I mean, I know he has a Harvard education in Constitutional law and is the Chief Justice of the United States, but I would not have thought any less of him if he had to read the oath from a piece of paper. I do however think just a little less of him for botching such a significant moment in history.

Leave it to Fox News's Chris Wallace to actually imply that Obama is not really President and that this may, "end up in the courts". What? Come on. Even if we concede that the oath was not verbatim as written in the constitution and therefore was not valid, why would it have to go to the courts? Wouldn't giving Obama the oath again, as they did, resolve the issue? Did Chris Wallace think that Obama would refuse take the oath again or something.

While Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly are right wing nut jobs, I generally try to believe that the actual news being reported on Fox News is 'Fair and Balanced', but when one of their anchors makes such statements I have to shake my head a little bit.

That aside, Obama is now the President of the United States. I have put a lot of faith in his abilities. He shows a lot of promise. He has a lot of support. No pressure or anything, but he better not let me down.